Every downtown project comes with a soaring rendering; but you’ll see one today in the theater district that looks every bit as dramatic in real life as the artwork…maybe a bit more so…at some very reachable prices.

Developer Randy Nichols is flanked by Executive Vice President Chris Crosby (left) and Sales Director Andy Hines, from the deck of a 30th floor condo like one modeled in Spire’s virtual tour center.

Everybody has been talking about SPIRE from the moment Realtors were treated to a lavish preview in the Colorado Convention Center, across the street from where the blue-lighted tower heads skyward. Forty-two stories…eye-catching terraced architecture…496 units, 130 of them already reserved as of this weekend…showcased from a virtual displays and strikingly realistic model homes that preview what the real views will look like at terraces above the city.

It’s still a few months from when buyers will be allowed in to see real panoramas…but developer Randy Nichols gave me a hardhat tour last week…including a 2,100-foot 3-bedroom on the 42nd floor (top-ten floors have a private, penthouse club)…and another on the 30th that captured a 270-degree view: Pikes and the southern ranges to one side, a bit of Rocky Mountain Park on the other, and skyscrapers and the Capitol dome in the center. Spire’s design——9,000 feet of restaurants/retail downstairs, followed by eight levels of deeded parking, assures even the least expensive home (currently at $212,000) will have a view.

But what you’ll see in the models, and in touch screens that allow you to move plans around and see views from specific floors, is just the beginning of the allure. Spire residents, from most-to-least expensive units, are getting a package of amenities uncommonly designed to create social interaction: a 9th floor deck with reflecting pool and two other aquatic spaces; “the zone” lounge and “box office” screening room, both with huge hi-def screens; fitness rooms; common areas designed as meeting places; even a dog park, high above city streets.

It’s excitement that mirrors the surrounding theater district, where new exemptions on marquee signs are giving the sky a Broadway luster. Spire will be exceptionally sustainable, too…largest LEDE registered project of its type, with added parking for scooters and bikes, a car-sharing provider, and first-of-a-kind recyclable chutes that channel bottles and cans from your lofty flat into bins far below.

Take the Mall Shuttle to Champa and walk south; information center is beside the Convention Center between Champa and Stout on 14th.

WHERE: Grand opening of SPIRE, soaring condominiums in the heart of the theater district; sensational amenities, green features, most units priced for FHA financing. Model/virtual display center beside the Denver Convention Center between Champa & Stout; take the Mall Shuttle to Champa, south 2 blks to 14th.

PRICE: From $212,000 to $1.2 mil; 60% in $200s-$400s

WHEN: Today, 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.

PHONE: PHONE: 720-457-7550 WEB: SpireDenver.com